Passage Realised

"Well, Clemmy,'" said Britain, "how are you by this time, and what's the
news?"

Clemency told him the news, which he received very graciously. A gracious
change had come over Benjamin from head to foot. He was much broader, much redder, much
more cheerful, and much jollier in all respects. It seemed as if his face had been tied up
in a knot before, and was now untwisted and smoothed out.

"There'll be another job for Snitchey and Craggs, I suppose," he observed,
puffing slowly at his pipe. "More witnessing for you and me, perhaps, Clemmy!"

"Lor!" replied his fair companion, with her favourite twist of her favourite
joints. "I wish it was me, Britain!"

"Wish what was you?"

"A-going to be married," said Clemency.

Benjamin took his pipe out of his mouth and laughed heartily. "Yes! you're
a likely subject for that!" he said. "Poor Clem!" Clemency for her part laughed as
heartily as he, and seemed as much amused by the idea. "Yes," she assented, "I'm a likely
subject for that; an't I?"

"You'll never be married, you know," said Mr. Britain, resuming
his pipe.

"Don't you think I ever shall though?" said Clemency, in perfect good
faith.

Mr. Britain shook his head. "Not a chance of it!"

"Only think!" said Clemency. "Well! — I suppose you mean
to, Britain, one of these days; don't you?" ["Part the Second," p. 281-282]

Commentary

Although Furniss may well not have been aware of the original lead
artist's own concern about how he could coordinate his conception of the comic woman of
the melodrama, Clemency Newcome, with that embodied in the more elegant servant provided
John Forster, manager of the enterprise, by Daniel Maclise, Harry Furniss elected to
follow Dickens's description of the gangly, awkward servant rather than the models
afforded him by previous illustrators, while retaining a phlegmatic Benjamin Britain.
Furniss probably recalled the picture of the "proposal scene" in the Illustrated London News of Mr. and Mrs. Keeley playing these parts in
the Albert Smith (and Dickens sanctioned) adaptation in the 26 December 1846 number;
certainly, his composition bears considerable resemblance to "Scene from The Battle of
Life, at London's Lyceum Theatre: Clemency, Mrs. Keeley; Britain, Mr. Keeley"
(page 413). The figures, although reversed in Furniss's version,
have identical postures, facial features, and costumes — even Clemency's easy-chair
in Furniss's illustration seems to be based directly on the one depicted in the weekly
newspaper, which in turn was a direct translation of the piece of furniture used by the
Keeleys for their stage set, endorsed as authentic by their unofficial stage manager,
Charles Dickens himself.Although Benjamin is prominent in Leech's
"The Parting Breakfast" in that he stands at the foot of
the table, wielding a carving knife and fork as he addresses Snitchey and Craggs, Clemency
appears in a supporting role in that Leech illustration (only one of three for this
fourth Christmas Book), as well as in Richard Doyle's "Part the
Second" and Daniel Maclise's "The Secret Interview".
The smiling, youthful Clemency of the newspaper depiction of Mary Anne Keeley in the role
is the basis for Harry Furniss's cheerful middle-aged woman, but both are in total
contrast to the serious, elderly companion of Fred Barnard's "'What is the matter?' he exclaimed. 'I don't know. I
— I am afraid to think. Go back. Hark!'", so that the modern reader must
applaud Furniss's decision to abandon the figures of the Household Edition volumes in
favour of the stage moment conveyed in the Illustrated London
News.

As has been noted, the Household Edition illustrators of the 1870s contributed little
to Furniss's visualisation of Dickens's odd couple, who are stereotypical publicans in
eighteenth-century garb in Abbey's realisation of the scene in which Michael Warden
returns to the village after years abroad, and equally undistinguished servants in period
costume in Barnard's version of "The Parting Breakfast." Thus, in choosing the proposal
scene and in focussing on the comic servants as individuals rather than mere types in
their own romantic plot, Furniss made the working-class couple who join the ranks of the
middle class over the course of the story worthy of the reader's interest in the
realisation of their own dreams. Furniss has realised their role as comic foils to the
main plot, has broadened the cast of characters socially — and probably reflected
something of the appeal of these comic figures to theatre audiences over sixty years.

Although Furniss's impressionist style does not customarily include visual symbols, the
circumstances of the discussion — the laden supper table — and in particular
the cat sleeping at Clemency's feet, below her footstool, suggest her desire for domestic
comfort. The gleaming pots and pans, in which in the text, Britain sees himself reflected
would have imparted a nice "below stairs" touch, but Furniss again reveals himself not
generally interested in providing such contextual details as the pot of beer at Britain's
elbow.

Related Illustrations from1846, 1876, and 1878

Left: John Leech's "The Parting Breakfast";
centre, contemporary illustration from theatrical review "Scene
from 'The Battle of Life', at the Lyceum Theatre: Clemency, Mrs. Keeley; Britain, Mr.
Keeley"; E. A. Abbey's "'Meat?' said Britain, approaching
Mr. Snitchey, with the carving knife and fork in his hands, and throwing the question at
him like a missile" (1876); right, Fred Barnard's "Guessed
half aloud 'milk and water,' 'monthly warning,' 'mice and walnuts' — and couldn't
approach her meaning" (1878). [Click on images to enlarge them.]

Scanned image and text by Philip V.
Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or
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